Key of Heart
by XD-kaycee
Summary: Ciara, the new arrancar is assigned as Ulquiorra's fraccion. Though she admires her espada very much, she becomes intrigued by the tension between him and Grimmjow. Despite Ulquiorra's hatred for the sexta, Ciara befriends Grimmjow and learns that even hollows still have a heart, it's just buried deep inside. Grimmjow x OC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own bleach or any or it's characters. They belong to Tite Kubo!

However, I did write this story which belongs to me, so please do not copy or reproduce without permission.

 **Chapter 1: The Past; Welcome to Hueco Mundo**

* * *

Aizen had called for an assembly so all the espada along with their francion's gathered in the main throne room. No one knew what the assembly was about so everyone was very curious to find out. Perhaps another arrancar was about to be born or someone was to be punished? In the last meeting it was announced Nel was no longer the third espada and Harribel had replaced her position. That however was several months ago, nothing new had happened around Hueco Mundo since.

Walking into view and taking a seat in his throne, the room fell silent as everyone waited for Aizen to speak.

"Good evening dear espada. It's been a while since my last visit, but today I must introduce you to a new member of our family. Ciara, please step forward."

Out walked a petite figure from behind Aizen's throne and stood beside him. The female arrancar had short blond hair and an average figure; no huge ass or breasts, just a solid, slim athletic build. The only prominent feature was her blood red eyes. Her uniform consisted of a white cold shoulder top, pants, and combat boots. She also wore a pair of black, fingerless, leather gloves.

"I have given Ciara the honour of being arrancar infinity." Ciara turned around and lifted her hair to reveal the infinity symbol tattooed on the back of her neck.

"Infinity? Is that even a number?" Nnoitra blurted out from below.

Aizen's face grew into a small smile, not at all bothered by Nnoitra's outburst. "Infinity, in fact, is a very special number, therefore Ciara will be treated with great respect. I want all of you to treat her not as a fellow numero, but as an espada. Do you all understand?"

There was a bit of murmur in the crowd, but everyone still answered in unison, "Yes Aizen-sama."

"Excellent. Ulquiorra, please step forward."

"Yes Aizen-sama?"

"Since you have no fraccion and you are one of my most loyal espada, I will be placing Ciara under your care as your fraccion. You will train her and be responsible for her, understand?"

Ulquiorra bowed his head down, "Yes Aizen-sama, it is my pleasure to take Ciara as my fraccion."

"Good, now you may all be dismissed."

Most of the crowd slowly exited the room, though some of the espada seemed to linger around.

"What should I do now, Aizen?" Ciara casually asked.

"I want you to follow Ulquiorra. He will show you around Hueco Mundo."

Ciara nodded. "Are you going back to Seireitei already?"

"Yes, they might grown suspicious if I'm gone too long. But I trust you'll be fine here, if not, Ulquiorra will protect you."

Letting out a sigh, Nicara quietly mumbled, "It sucks how I can't stay in Seireitei anymore, I wish Gin was staying here as well. At least I would have someone to talk to."

"Don't worry, the time hasn't come, but we will eventually come and live here in Hueco Mundo as well. In the meantime, try talking with some of the espada's, perhaps gain their trust."

Ciara rolled her eyes a little, she knew trying to befriend an arrancar was a silly idea, but if she was successful she could use that to her advantage. "None of them look too friendly, but I'll try."

With that, Ciara jumped down from the throne platform to meet up with her espada, Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra had been observing the woman the entire time and he could tell she was important. Aizen had not only given her a unique number, but he also didn't need her to use honorifics around him. It didn't make sense though, the woman seemed like a regular person, her reiatsu was average, and yet she is somehow special. He would have to take good care of this girl.

After exiting the throne room, Ulquiorra showed Ciara around the palace: the espada wing, her room, the kitchen, the infirmary and the training rooms.

Ciara's room, which was located near Ulquiorra's room in the fourth wing, was huge. However, it was bland and boring because very little furniture was present to fill the empty space. It contained a queen sized bed on one end and a couch & table on the other side. There was also a washroom with a simple tub, sink and toilet. In general, the living area was fine, it just could use a little more decoration.

After Ulquiorra had showed her all the basics, he left her on her own and told her he'd meet her tomorrow morning for training. Ciara didn't have much to do, so she wondered around the halls. She left her zanpakto in her room on her bed; she didn't think she'd need it with her since Aizen said she'd be safe, so no one would dare harm her. That, however, was a big mistake. It didn't take long before she wondered into the fifth wing and bumped into a tall, lean man with an eyepatch over one eye.

"Well well, why isn't it the new bitch Aizen introduced earlier?"

Who was he calling a bitch? They had just met and she hadn't even spoken a word to him yet. He had some nerve.

"And who might you be?" Ciara asked smugly, folding her arms across her chest.

"What? An arrancar like you weren't even told who your superiors are? I'm the fifth espada, Nnoitra." He stuck out his tongue so she could clearly see the tattoo on his tongue.

"Well, Nnoitra, if you were listening to Aizen earlier then you shouldn't be calling me a bitch cause you're suppose to treat me as a fellow espada."

"Don't make me laugh. You're just another annoying bitch I have to deal with. What's so fuckin' special about you?"

Ciara didn't have time to answer cause he already drawled out his zanpakto, driving her against the wall. Luckily she was skinny enough to fit in the curve of the crescent blade, otherwise it would've sliced through her already.

"What the fuck are you doing?!"

"Testing out your strength. But it's obvious," he kicked her on the side, knocking her to the ground. "you're weak as shit."

He lifted her off from the ground and slammed her against the wall. He punched her right in the stomach, causing her to cough up blood.

"Com'on bitch, attack me."

Ciara turned her head away showing little interest in Nnoitra. "There's no point in fighting you." she simply stated.

Nnoitra took this as an insult. "Bitch," he snarled, punching her again. "You're just like that damn Nelliel except you're weak! What did you do to get Aizen's attention huh? Obviously you can't fight, so you must've slept your way to the top, huh slut?"

"Shut up! I'm not a slut!" She quickly flashed out of sight and punched him from behind. Unfortunately, her punch didn't send him flying like she hoped, in fact he didn't even budge. There was a small sound of cracking, but not from his bones, but from her knuckles. His hierro was unexpectedly strong. She quickly drew back, clutching her first to her chest. "Fuck," she muttered.

Nnoitra turned around to face Ciara with a smirk plastered on his face. "Bet ya didn't know, but I've got the strongest hierro out of all the espada. Come at me, bitch."

Ciara gritted her teeth; was she really that weak? If only she had her zanpakto on her, she'd cut him up into pieces. She decided to try attacking him again, but this time she was going to aim at his face.

This time, however, her knuckles weren't able to make contact with his skin, instead he caught her wrist and twisted it before flinging her to the ground.

"You Bastard!" she cried out in pain.

"Oh, so now the bitch has a little bit more fight in her. I love a feisty woman, especially when it comes to sex."

In a blink of an eye, he pinned Ciara against the floor. She froze up, afraid of what was to come. Fear was written all over her face, and Nnoitra could see that. His smile grew wide, grinning like a creepy cheshire cat.

"What's wrong bitch? You look scarred."

"Please don't."

"Don't what?" One of his hands held her wrists together above her head while the other travelled down her body.

"Stop, " she begged. She wasn't a virgin, but as close as one could get. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't, not in front of this bastard. Her body felt limp, too weak to even move.

"Begging will get ya nowhere, I'm gonna teach you a lesson you'll never forget."

She gasped when she felt his wet tongue lick her neck. He was about to sink his teeth in, but a voice interrupted him.

"What the fuck are you doing, Nnoitra?"

"What doe it look like, huh Grimmjow? I'm about to fuck this woman."

Grimmjow came into view and took a closer look.

"Isn't she the new arrancar that we're suppose to treat like an espada?"

Nnoitra snorted, clearly annoyed with Grimmjow's presence. "Since when did you give a shit? Besides, this _is_ the way I treat some espada."

"Tch, are you stupid? She didn't even use honorifics when she was talking to Aizen earlier. Unless you have a death wish, you should back off. Aizen and Ulquiorra aren't gonna just let it go if you do something to her like you did to Nel."

 _What did he do to the person named Nel?_ Ciara wondered.

Pulling Ciara's hair in a tight grip, Nnoitra yanked her head back so he could threateningly whisper "You got lucky this time bitch, but next time I catch you alone, you're gonna wish you were dead." Chills went down her spine as he spoke, but she was glad it was over. After he let go of her hair and stepped away, she just laid on the floor with her eyes closed, catching her breath. Her mind was too busy celebrating the fact that Nnoritra was gone that she completely forgot about the precence of the other espada.

Ciara didn't remember about Grimmjow until his foot steps came closer, that's when she opened her eyes to see a pair of beautiful sapphire eyes boring into her's. The espada, Grimmjow, was flawlessly beautiful, perhaps handsome was a better word. He looked like a male model out of a magazine: his face, abs, and sculptured body, he's every girl's dream. He was very attractive, at least in appearance, there was no denying it.

Grimmjow noticed her staring, causing him to grunt "Get up."

His voice quickly broke Nicara out of her daze. Though her body ached, she quickly scrambled onto her feet.

"Umm, Thanks for helping me." She awkwardly thanked him, bowing her head down in gratitude.

He snorted in response. "Tch, that bastard needs to learn to pick on someone his own size. But he's right, you're so fuckin' weak."

"Don't call me that just cause I'm a girl. I may not be great at fighting, but I am not weak."

"I didn't call you weak because you're a girl, I called you weak because you didn't even put up a fight."

"You don't know anything...I didn't ask for your help. Besides I left my zanpakto in my room,"

"Tch, you're a sorry excuse for an arrancar, I can't believe Aizen wants us to treat you like an espada."

"Shut up! Aizen see's great potential in me, so I won't dissapoint him."

Grimmjow raised a brow. Why did the woman think so highly of Aizen? "Why do you give a shit about Aizen? What is he to you?"

"Aizen saved and created me, He gave me life, so now I owe everything to him. He's almost like a father to me."

Grimmjow made a disgusted face, almost like he wanted to puke. Was she being serious? "Oh so you're daddy's little girl, huh princess? It must be nice getting everything handed to you."

"What are you talking about? Aizen helps me, but I work hard to earn everything. Ulquiorra start's traning me tomorrow, so I will be learning how to fight and become a worthy warrior in no time."

"Tch, Ulquiorra's never had a francion before, I doubt he knows how to train anyone."

"Well since you're so good, why don't you show me some of your moves?"

"Yeah right, that's your espada's job. Besides, there's nothing in it for me."

"So if there was some type of benefit from training me, you'd do it?"

Grimmjow laughed, what was with this woman? "Unless you can find a good enough reason for me to waste my time helping you, you're out of luck, princess." He motioned a slight wave of his hand and headed down the hallway.

Ciara cringed at the nickname as she watched Grimmjow walk away with his hands in his pockets. _Who cares about him,_ she thought. She could just learn everything from Ulquiorra. She'd show him how strong she can become and make him regret calling her weak. _Soon, I'll become strong, and we'll see who the weak one really is._

 ** _End of Chapter 1._**

* * *

A bit of a typical chapter, except Ciara is Ulquiorra's fraccion, not Grimmjow's. The main pairing is between Grimmjow and Ciara, but I want to build some type of friendship between Ulquiorra and Ciara. There will also be some Orihime x Ulquiorra later on in the story.

 **For those who are new:**

This is technically a pre-sequel and sequel to my story _Memories of Somebody_ , BUT, you can actually read the first half of it without reading _Memories of Somebody_ because the first half is a pre-sequel. It's totally up to you.

 **For those who read Memories of Somebody:**

Just to be clear, Nicara and Ciara are the same person. In the pre-sequel chapters (so like the first half of this story) my oc will be going by the name of Ciara. In the sequel chapters, she will go by Nicara. Sorry for the confusion, but that's why Grimmjow didn't recognize her, because she had a different look and name.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Past; Make Me Stronger**

* * *

Waking up, Ciara rolled around for several minutes before deciding to get out of bed. She wasn't tired, since she got a full ten hours of sleep, but instead she was dreading for her second day at Hueco Mundo. Her first day, unfortunately, didn't turn out too well. She almost got raped by the fifth espada and was called weak by the other espada named Grimmjow. She could only hope her second day was going to be a little better.

After breakfast Ciara met up with her espada in the training room. Before Aizen left he had given specific orders that Ciara wasn't allowed to use her Zanpakuto at all during training or around Hueco Mundo for that matter, unless it was for emergency purposes. Aizen had noticed Ciara wasn't very good at hand to hand combat because she relied too much on her zanpakuto. Therefore, now was the time to build her raw power.

"Ciara," her espada simply acknowledged.

"Yes, Ulquiorra-sama. " she responded with a small nod of the head. Ulquiorra raised a brow hearing her add the honorific to the end of his name. She didn't even use honorifics when speaking to Aizen, so why was she using them now?

"Don't add honorifics to my name, address me as Ulquiorra." He understood she was technically his Fraccion, but Aizen had specifically ordered everyone to treat her as a fellow espada. Aside from that Aizen was there leader, so if he didn't receive any respect from this woman then he wasn't allowed to either.

"Okay then, Ulquiorra, what are we doing today?"

"Do you know how to charge a cero?"

Ciara shook her head. "No... I've never tried."

"Then watch closely and learn." He pointed his finger in the direction he was aiming at and concentrated his power at the tip of his index finger, creating a powerful ball of energy.

His technique wasn't like most arrancar, but at the same time his cero seemed more precise and elegant than the others. "Why is it that most arrancar form their cero in the palm of their hands? " she asked out of curiosity.

"It doesn't matter where you concentrate your energy, but pointing then concentrating your energy at your finger tip gives a clear direction in where you want it to go, while forming it in your palm makes it easier to charge."

Ciara nodded, pleased with the technical reasoning. It made sense to her, so she decided to give it a try.

Taking a firm stance, she pointed and concentrated her energy at her index finger and shot a cero. The cero was puny and weak compared to Ulquiorra's; a total embarrassment. Thankfully Ulquiorra understood that learning takes time as he stated "That cero was weak, but you'll improve with more practice."

Unfortunately, Ulquiorra wasn't the only one who saw it. Coming from the entrance was a howl of laughter.

"You fuckin' call that a cero?!"

Ciara flushed red in embarrassment as she whipped her head to face Grimmjow. "Why are you fucking here?"

"Calm down princess, I was just passing by and wanted to see how your training was going. And from what I saw your power is probably about the same as one of the numero's. Hah, so much for your bullshit about not being weak."

"Don't call me princess! and-" she started but was cut off by Ulquiorra.

First he spoke to her, "Let me handle this trash," then to Grimmjow. "Grimmjow, I suggest you stop harassing my fraccion. She was put under my care, so her performance is none of your business. Unless you are here to train, you are to leave."

"Tch, I was about to leave anyways, watching you train this woman is boring as hell. Nnoritra was right, what does Aizen see in you?" He gave Ciara a good look in the eye as he spoke.

After Grimmjow left the room, Ciara and Ulquiorra continued their training. He taught her a couple of basic moves and practiced her cero some more. She was improving, slowly, but surely. Over the course of the next few weeks they continued their training routine every morning. After Ulquiorra left she would always stay behind and continue practicing, determined to improve her skills to prove to Grimmjow and Nnoritra she wasn't weak.

* * *

One afternoon she was training by herself, but she couldn't quite master the technique. She was getting frustrated with herself, and that's when Grimmjow showed up.

The last time Grimmjow bothered Ciara was on her first day of training, and he hadn't come by since. However, he was curious to see how much progress the woman had throughout the weeks, and from the looks of it she was just past all the basic moves. He could tell what Ciara was trying to do, but her attempts were an absolute failure. "You're pathetic" he laughed.

Ciara gritted her teeth hearing the sound of his voice. "Shut up! I'd like to see you try."

He gave a slight shrug and effortlessly preformed the move. It was a piece of cake; did she really think it would be a challenge for an espada?

She stated at him in amazement and slight jealousy. "But how, you make it look so easy..." Challenging him was definitely a stupid idea, she should have known he was able to perform such a move.

Grimmjow grinned, "Looks like a cat's caught your tongue huh? Like I said before, Ulquiorra's got no experience training anyone except himself. You've gotten a little better, but you're still weak."

Ciara crossed her arms. "Was that suppose to be a compliment?"

"You tell me, princess." he teased, flashing his canines.

"Don't call me that!" she hissed, while trying to smack him in the head, but he quickly dodged.

"You're going to have to be faster than that!"

She raised a brow. "Is that a challenge? What happens if I can catch you?"

Grimmjow laughed, as if that was gonna happen. "Then I'll consider helping you learn that move."

"And if I lose?"

"You'll have to admit you're Aizen's little princess."

"Deal."

'This is going to be easy' thought Grimmjow. Unfortunately, he was in for an unexpected surprise.

Ciara was never on of the stronger players, but she had speed. Within seconds, she caught up to Grimmjow, she sonido in front of him so he would have to stop in his tracks and admit defeat, but he wasn't able to slow down in time which caused him to crash straight into Ciara, sending them tumbling onto the floor. She landed onto of him then quickly pinned his shoulders down and sat up on top of his stomach so he couldn't get up.

"I won!" She declared, slightly out of breath, but proud with victory. "Now you have to keep your side of the deal."

Grimmjow on the other hand didn't really care about losing the bet. His mind was too focused on the position they were in. Ciara's ass was just above his now hardened member and her chest was dangling inches above his face. She didn't have large tits, but her deep breathing caused them to move up and down. "You know, I like the feeling of your ass on my stomach, but I think I would love it even more if you shifted your body just a little lower."

She pushed herself off of him immediately.

"Eww, you fuckin' pervert! That's NEVER gonna happen."

Grimmjow laughed. "Oh well, it's not like you're my type anyways."

Before she could respond, Grimmjow flashed away leaving Ciara alone in the training room. "That bastard. " Ciara grumbled, running out into the hallway to chase after him. She had only taken a couple steps before she intersected with Ulquiorra.

"Ciara," he called.

Immediately, she stopped in her tracks and nodded her head in respect.

"Ulquiorra, Is there something you need? "

"Aizen-sama is back and wants to speak with you."

"I understand, I'll head to the throne room now."

She would have to track down Grimmjow later.

Arriving at the throne room, she was quickly greeted by Aizen.

"Ciara, how has your first couple of weeks at Hueco Mundo been?"

She gave a sigh. "It's been alright. I had a rough start on my first day, but everything is going well now."

Aizen raised a brow, "Rough start? How so?" He had specifically given orders that Ciara was not to be mistreated, who would have dared to defy his orders?

Ciara hesitated for a moment, should she tell him the truth? She didn't want to feel like a tattletale, but she wouldn't mind seeing Nnoritra get punished either. That way he wouldn't try messing with her ever again. "The fifth espada wasn't too fond of me joining the ranks and attacked me, but luckily the other espada, Grimmjow showed up and stopped him."

Aizen's face stayed composed as she reported the news. He should've known it was Nnoritra who attacked Ciara, but he didn't expect Grimmjow, out of all the espada, to defend her. "Interesting, I'll be sure to keep that in mind. If anything else happens while I'm gone, report it to Ulquiorra."

"Are you going back to Soul Society so soon?"

"Yes, I can't let them get suspicious of me."

Leaving the throne room, she venture down the hall to the espada wing to search for Grimmjow. While wandering through the hall, she was spotted by five arrancar who quickly blocked her path. She knew they weren't any of the espada, so they must be Grimmjow's fraccion.

"Who are you and what business do you have? Only other espada's can wonder to another espada's wing freely besides the espada's fraccion."

"I'm looking for Grimmjow, he lost a bet."

"You mean Grimmjow -sama? How dare you disrespect our espada." One of the arrancar put his hand around her throat and slammed her against the wall.

"I am arrancar number infinity and Ulquiorra's fraccion," she managed to choke out. "If you were at the meeting several weeks ago then you should know who I am and that It would be a smart idea to remove your hands from my neck right now."

"Are you trying to threaten me, arrancar?" he mused.

"No, I'm commanding you, otherwise you're gonna have a nice talk with my espada and Aizen."

"Shawlong," One of the arrancar interjected, "I don't think she's bluffing. I heard Nnoritra complain about a new female arrancar that's got espada privileges."

Shawlong wasn't sure whether to strangle the woman to death or let go and apologize. Thankfully he didn't have to amen a decision because Grimmjow walked out of his room and quickly spotted the scene.

"Shawlong, let go of the woman."

"Yes, Grimmjow-sama." He quickly obeyed his master and released his grip on Ciara's neck, watching her use the wall to support herself as she caught her breath.

"What are you doing here, woman?" he asked in a bored tone.

She sent a glare in Grimmjow's direction before straightening her posture. "What am I doing here? You lost a bet and ran away, you coward!"

Shawlong unsheathed his blade to attack Ciara. How dare she! To act all high and mighty was one thing, but to call his master a coward was going too far.

Grimmjow noticed and quickly grabbed his blade with bare hands, stopping it from slicing Ciara across the neck.

"Shawlong, you aren't allowed to attack her. You understand?"

Reluctantly, Shawlong drew back his blade. "But Grimmjow sama, she has disrespected you!"

Normally Grimmjow would be more furious if any of his fraccion acted without orders or talked back, but this time was an exception because this woman was really getting on his nerves. The woman had just called him a coward, and it was taking every ounce of his strength to hold back from strangling her. If it were another arrancar, they'd be dead.

"Tch, she's Aizen's little princess, what else do you expect?" he said with clenched fists.

"Excuse me?"

"Look woman, I didn't back out of the deal, I'll teach you the move tomorrow afternoon."

Ciara's face lit up immediately. "For real? Sorry for calling you a coward.

"Tch, you better be, cause next time you say something like that you won't get away so easily."

* * *

The next afternoon while waiting for Grimmjow to show up, she warmed up with some stretching. She was in the middle of her toe touches when she heard a whistle from behind, she peered through her legs to see a grinning Grimmjow. "Ya know you got a really nice ass. If your tits were the same size as all the other arrancar women, I'd consider you for a play mate."

Ciara rolled her eyes at Grimmjow's typical male judgment. Many women would be offended by his comment because hearing that makes them feel insecure about their body. However, Ciara didn't care. In fact she was glad she had a small chest because at least she knew the men she interacted with weren't all eager to get into her pants. They wanted to be around her for who she was, not because of her physical features. She would never get plastic surgery to please a man or become their ideal object. She was proud of natural body, and the work she had done to keep fit. Besides, from what she heard having large boobs are a pain in the ass.

Standing up straight now, Ciara crossed her arms over her chest and looked Grimmjow in the eye. "Well then I guess I'm glad I don't have humungous tits, otherwise I would have to worry about you trying to harass me."

"Like you'd be able to resist. All woman come back begging for more."

"Look, I'd love to watch you continue flirting with me, but I'd rather you start showing me your combat skills."

"Flirting with you? Tch, I was just stating the facts."

She rolled her eyes "Whatever you say. "

"If you wanna learn so badly then you'd better watch closely, woman."

He performed the move several times for her to observe, and it looked just the way Ulquiorra showed her.

The move didn't seem that hard, especially when either of the two espada preformed it. It was just a couple of kicks here and there, so why couldn't she do it? It was Ciara's turn now, so she did the best to imitate Grimmjow's actions.

"You're fuckin' doing it wrong," he groaned.

"How? I did what you did!", she exclaimed, frustration beginning to take over.

"Tch, obviously not, otherwise it would be right." He marched up behind her and touched her arms and legs. At first she backed away from him, thinking he was being a pervert.

"What the fuck are you trying to do?" she questioned, wiggling out of his reach.

Grimmjow rolled his eyes. "Calm down woman, do you want to learn this move or not?"

Slowly he moved her arms and legs to the right position, step by step. Ulquiorra had never made skin contact with her, so the feeling of Grimmjow's body so close made her feel uneasy.

"So like this?" she asked, slowly repeating the moves.

"Yeah, now try it again, except as fast as you can."

She did it. "I did it! Did you just see that?" she jumped up and down excitedly like a small child who had just mastered tying their shoes for the first time.

"Thanks Grimmjow, I wouldn't been able to do it if it weren't for you."

She bowed her head in gratitude.

"Tch, whatever, my work here is done." he stated, heading for the exit.

"Grimmjow wait. "

"What?"

"Well umm... there was this new move Ulquiorra was teaching me this morning and I'm having trouble with it too. Could you show me how?" She knew there wasn't much of a chance that he would teach her, but it didn't hurt to ask, maybe he's in a good mood and feeling generous?

"Yer kidding right? I only agreed to teach you that one move if I lost the bet. If you want me to teach you more there's got to be something in it for me, or we could make a different bet."

"There's no way I'm making a another bet."

"Well, maybe we could work something out," he smirked, looking her over with elevator eyes.

Ciara made a disgusted face. "Forget it, I'll figure it out myself."

"Oh, so you don't want my help? I thought you were desperate."

"I'm determined, not desperate. I'm not a slut who sells my body. I'll do it the hard way if I have to."

Grimmjow shrugged his shoulders, not buying her tough girl act. It didn't really matter though; she'd come running back to him if she needed something. "Suit yourself."

* * *

The next morning during training, Ulquiorra seemed slightly bothered by something. He kept circling around her all while staying silent.

"Is something wrong?" Ciara asked. The fact that Ulquiorra never said much didn't really bother her, but sometimes she wish she knew what he was thinking.

"There's a faint scent on you, have you been hanging around trash?"

"You mean Grimmjow?" Ulquiorra nodded. "He just showed me how to do a move that's all."

"You should stop hanging around trash like him, otherwise you'll quickly become one yourself."

"Don't worry, he doesn't plan on helping me again." she grumbled more to herself than Ulquiorra.

The week went by quickly, but not in a good way. Her espada continued to train her every morning, but there were some moves she couldn't master. Ulquiorra's examples and demonstrations were flawless, but she had to admit, Grimmjow's teaching methods were easier to grasp. She wanted to ask him to teach her again, but would her pride let her? And would that be an insult to Ulquiorra? She sighed, things were about to get ugly.

Ciara wandered through the espada wing to find Grimmjow. His fraccion's were in the hallway again, but this time they didn't bother messing with her, instead they gave her a deathly glare, especially when she approached Grimmjow's door and gave it a loud knock. There was a irritated grunt from the other side, then footsteps followed by yelling.

"What the fuck do you want Shawlong?" To his surprise it wasn't any of his fraccion at the door, he had to shift his eyes down a couple inches to spot Ciara. "You? What do you want?"

"Well it's nice to see you too, Grimmjow. You seem like you're in a good mood." she replied, her voice full of sarcasm.

"Tch, don't waste my time woman, why are you here?"

 _Here goes nothing_. Taking a deep breath she looked him in the eye and stated, "I want you to train me."

Grimmjow stared at her for a few moments, surprised by her request.

"What? Your espada sucks at teaching?"

"He doesn't suck, I just don't understand some of the things he teaches. You just have a more fitting teaching style."

Yet again Grimmjow was taken aback, the woman just said he was better than Ulquiorra, her own fucking espada!

"If you're just trying to suck up to me, it ain't gonna work woman. I'm not gonna train you unless there's something in it for me."

"There is something in it for you, you get to have the glory of feeling better than Ulquiorra."

"Yer kiddin' right?" If this woman was done joking around, he had no problem slamming the door in her face.

"There's more, "

"Oh? Then go on."

"If you train me, I'll tell Aizen how helpful you've been so he will consider you for a promotion."

"You would be able to persuade Aizen to give me a higher ranking?" Now this was a deal he was somewhat interested in. Ever since Nel disappeared, a few of the espada's received a promotion. Nnoritra went from being the eighth espada to number five, Grimmjow, on the other hand hadn't budged from his spot as number nine. There was an opening for the sixth espada, but he wasn't exactly Aizen's favorite so he had a slim chance securing that position.

"Of course I could, I am Aizen's little 'princess' after all."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Why shouldn't you?" He was silent for a moment, deciding whether or not it was much of a deal. There was no guarantee he would get promoted. "Fine, I can throw in one more thing, if you train me, you can keep calling me princess whenever you want. Take it or leave it." Ciara fucking hated being called princess, but if was the only thing left she could offer besides her body.

Grimmjow's face grew into a wide smirk. "Don't I already do that, huh princess?"

Ciara's face turned into a frown. "I said you can only call me that if you agree to train me!"

"Well then I guess I'll be seeing you every afternoon from now on, princes." he said already taking full advantage of the deal.

Training for the next couple weeks flew by quickly. Every morning she would train with Ulquiorra, and every afternoon she'd train with Grimmjow. With two different teachers, her learning process increased drastically. Training with Grimmjow actually went pretty well. He always showed up and actually put an effort into his teaching. Ciara wasn't sure if he actually cared, or if he was doing this so she'd say good things about him and get him a promotion. Either way it didn't really matter, as long as they both kept their side of the deal.

One day Ciara was about to leave her room to go train with Grimmjow, but when she opened the door she found Ulquiorra standing there blocking her way.

"Ulquiorra," she stuttered. "What are you doing here?"

"Where are you going?" he questioned.

"To the training room to train."

"By yourself?"

"No." she muttered, feeling guilty. He already knew the truth, but he was wanted her to admit it to see if she was a loyal enough fraccion to tell him the truth. "To train with Grimmjow." She admitted, slightly ashamed she never told her espada.

"I told you not to be around that trash, why have you disobeyed me?" Ulquiorra's face and voice remained expressionless, but something was off about his tone. Ciara could tell there was much more to it than training with another espada. If it were Stark or Harribel, he definitely wouldn't have a problem with it.

"I don't know what kind of conflict you guys have to hate each other so much, but he's not that bad. In fact, if it weren't for him, I'd be very behind in my training right now. You are a very knowledgeable teacher Uqluiorra, but for some moves I can only understand Grimmjow's teaching methods. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I knew you'd be upset, I didn't mean to disrespect you."

She bowed her head, staying down, waiting for her espada to accept her apology.

Ulquiorra took one look at her then turned around and began to walk away.

A feeling of hurt washed over Ciara's face, "Ulquiorra-sama-"

"I cannot control who you interact with, however, if they harm you in any way I will protect you because you are my fraccion."

"Does that mean I have permission to train with Grimmjow?"

"Since it is benefitting you, you may continue training with the piece of trash for the time being."

"Thank you Ulquiorra!"

With the help of the two espada's she'd became a worthy warrior in no time.

 ** _End of Chapter 2._**

* * *

In the story right now Grimmjow isn't the sixth espada, so let's pretend he's the ninth espada or something.

I'm trying my best to keep the characters in character, so if anybody has any suggestions feel free to pm me, or leave a review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Past; Grimmjow's Promotion**

* * *

After several weeks of training and improvement, Ciara kept her promise by praising Grimmjow's skills to Aizen and how he deserved a promotion. However, he didn't seem all too interested, and the idea simply went over his head. Two months after training Ciara, Grimmjow started to question her. Did she really tell Aizen about him? If so, how long would it take before he got his promotion? He didn't want to be wasting his time training this woman for nothing. She wasn't a pain to work with, but he wasn't one to give other's his time unless he owed them something. And at the moment she still owed him a promotion.

A couple months later, Aizen took the suggestion into consideration. He called Grimmjow to a meeting privately with him and Ciara. The both of them stood before Aizen, there heads slightly bowed.

"Grimmjow, Ciara has told me good things about you, and I will raise your current rank from nine to six if you can complete a task for me."

"What kind of task?"

"Its a mission, I want you and Ciara to retrieve something from somewhere."

"What?" Both Grimmjow and Ciara exclaimed in unison, glancing to each other then to Aizen.

"But Aizen, why do I have to go?" Ciara questioned in a whining tone. Grimmjow was the one who wanted a higher ranking, why would she need to assist him with _his_ mission?

"Yeah, I would rather take my own fraccion than this woman." Grimmjow exclaimed, jerking a thumb to the woman beside him.

Ciara narrowed her eyes. "Oh so your fraccion are so much better than me huh?"

"Tch, I though that was pretty obvious princess. First of all they've got much more experience out in the field and secondly they're _men_."

"Grimmjow you're such a sexist hot-headed b-"

"Silence, I have already decided that Ciara will be the one accompanying you. I was told you have been training Ciara, so I want to see you two display your skills for me by completing the mission. Afterall what she has learned is what you taught her, unless you've taught her wrong. Do you accept the challenge or would you rather just stay at your current rank?"

There was no way Grimmjow was going to give up a chance like this. "What if I fail the mission?"

"Then it means you didn't make it back, which simply means you died on the mission and someone will fill in your rank. On the mission, besides bringing back what I desire, the both of you must come back alive. Do you hear me Grimmjow ? If you comeback alone you will not receive your promotion, so make your decision, do you wish to complete the mission?"

"I accept."

The corners of Aizen's lips turned up into a small smile. "Excellent, the two of you will depart tomorrow morning."

Right after they exited the throne room Grimmjow and Ciara bursted out into another argument.

"This is all your fault! Why do I have to bring you? You'll only get in the way!" he exclaimed. Sure he had been training Ciara and she had gotten better, but she was still no where near the level of his fraccion. The woman had potential, but at the moment she was still weak. He'd rather take Shawlong with him since he'd listen to all his commands and they'd actually battled side by side before.

Ciara put both hands on her hips, "Excuse me? If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even be getting a promotion!" How dare this bastard blame her, if anything he should be thanking her.

"Says who!?"

"Me!"

Their bickering came to a halt when Ulquiorra appeared in the hallway.

"Ciara, Aizen has informed me about your mission with Grimmjow. You two should stop arguing and prepare for tomorrow. The mission can take a couple days, maybe even up to several weeks depending on your speed."

"No one asked for your advice Ulquiorra, so fuck off," he growled.

Ciara glared at Grimmjow for being so rude to her espada, then gave him a slight bow.

"You're right Ulquiorra, but do you have any advice for the mission?"

"Be careful and don't die." he simply stated and walked off.

"No shit" laughed Grimmjow. Ciara was hoping for slightly more useful advice, but decided to wait and ask him later when Grimmjow was gone.

* * *

The next morning Grimmjow and Ciara left for the mission. Before they left they were given a sack containing a map, a compass, and a scroll. Inside the scroll looked like some type of hieroglyphic writing, it seemed like some sort of decoder.

"Why in the world would we need something like that?"

"Beats me, Aizen never told us exactly where we were going, I guess we should just head North East and try to find the place."

Travelling to their destination with sonido speed took them practically an entire day, and when they arrived there lay some ancient ruins with a pyramid in the centre.

"Do you want to take a rest first before we go in?" Their journey there hadn't been difficult, a few hollows here and there, but nothing that they couldn't handle.

"Fine, we'll get a couple hours of shut eyes before heading in."

After several hours of rest and sleep, Grimmjow decided it was time to get on with the mission. The faster they finished, the faster he could get his promotion.

At the entrance of the pyramid, there were a few lit torches, other than that it was pitch black inside with unlit torches along the walls. They grabbed one and started walking through the long hallway. It was almost an hour later until they got to a dead end.

"It looks like there's suppose to be a door here, but it's closed."

"Tch, a door? Just stand back and I'll blast it open."

"No Grimmjow, are you crazy! You can't go blasting walls around here like you do in Hueco Mundo. We're inside an ancient pyramid, if you break any of the supports the whole thing will collapse on us!"

"Well Mrs. know it all, I don't hear any ideas coming from you."

"Let me think..." Dragging her hand against the wall she felt around, hoping to find some sort of secret button. She couldn't find any trigger, but she did feel something on the wall. She felt something engraved on the door, it felt like letters. She closed her eyes and moved her hand along the wall, yes, there was definitely something here. "I think I found something, pass me the torch so I can get a better look."

She brought the torch up close to the wall while she brushed the layer of dirt and sand off the wall. Long and behold there were a bunch of hieroglyphics carved into the wall.

"What the fuck? How are we suppose to read that?"

"In the bag, Aizen gave us the paper with the hieroglyphics, it explains how to translate it."

"Are you fucking kidding me..." Grimmjow grumbled more to himself than to Ciara as he rummaged for the paper. "This is going to fucking take forever."

Ciara wanted to roll her eyes at him and call him an impatient baby, but he was right, this would take some time. It wasn't too hard to translate the hieroglyphics, but being stuck in a dark, cramped pyramid made her feel exhausted.

"What the fuck does it say?" he asked impatiently.

"It says: Forget about the guiding light and let darkness be your path."

"What's that suppose to mean? We're arrancar's, we're already full of evil and darkness."

"True, then maybe there not referring to darkness as in evil, but as in when you have the lights off."

"So what?" he grumbled. Couldn't this woman just get to the point.

"I think we have to put the torch out."

"Why would we fuckin' do that? It'll we pitch black in here and we won't be able to see a thing!"

"Well I'm pretty sure that's what the Hieroglyphics say, do you have a better idea?"

"Tch, fine, but don't get what putting out the light will do."

Grimmjow took the torch from Ciara's hand and blew out the fire.

For the first few seconds nothing happened, both of them were just standing in the darkness together. Grimmjow was about to yell at Ciara for her stupid idea, but then something happened. Parts of the wall started to glow.

"It's some sort of limestone that only glows in pure darkness." Ciara whispered, fascinated by the scene before her.

The door still wasn't open, but there were two set of glowing lines along the wall that led several meters back, one pointing up into the ceiling, the other pointing to the side of the wall.

Ciara walked over to the side of the wall. "There's some type of switch here, Grimmjow check the spot on the ceiling."

"Yeah, there's one here too."

They pressed it at the same time and held in the switch, they could soon hear the sound of the door opening and a lit path on the other side.

Door after door they translated the set of hieroglyphics to open the door and into another hallway. As they got deeper into the pyramid, the hallways grew smaller and the ceiling lower.

"Fuck, my back is killing me," Grimmjow complained as they continued to unlock more doors. The ceiling was only about 5'5 now, so there was no way he could stand up straight.

"I guess there are some benefits of being short, lucky me. You know you could always crawl on your paws like the cat you are," Ciara teased.

" _Bitch_." he spat.

Each riddles on the door grew harder and took more time to solve. They had probably taken a couple days already. After about the twelth door, it finally opened to reveal what looked like the chamber of the pyramid. The room was fairly large and was well lit. At least now Grimmjow could stand up straight without the worry of hitting his head.

In the middle of the room was a pedestal with a shiny golden object.

"That must be the thing Aizen wants."

"Are you sure? It just seems too easy."

"Well Aizen said to take him back whatever is hidden in the chamber. It already took us a couple days to open all those fuckin' doors. If you ask me it was a mere test of patience and wits."

Nicara let out a small snort. "Yeah, I guess that's why Aizen wanted me to go, if it were you and your fraccion you guys wouldn't have made it past the first door."

Grimmjow gave a growl at her antic but nonetheless headed towards the pedestal and placed the object into his sack.

"Let's get back to Hueco Mundo, Woman."

Ciara nodded, and they both headed back to the door they came from, that's when they felt an unknown presence enter the room. They looked back to see what looked like an adjuchas.

"So you two are the intruders, and you taken our most prized possession, now you shall both die!"

Grimmjow tossed the bag to Ciara, "I'll give you a head start woman, but don't run too slow cause it won't take me long to take care of this guy." Ciara nodded, and headed down the hallway while Grimmjow faced the adjuchas. "You know what adjuchas, you've caught be in a good mood, I've been waiting for a decent fight."

Ciara sonido through the dark passageways and smiled in victory when she saw the moonlight radiating just outside. When she stepped out into the light, she was not free as she hoped, instead she was greeted by two adjuchas and a swarm of gillians.

"You dared to enter our territory, prepare to die!" it roared.

"Fuck, " she muttered under her breath. She quickly leapt into the air to dodge an attack only to find herself fully surrounded by the enemies. Her heart began racing and panic set in, there was no way she could take down all of them at once. _Stay calm_ , she told herself. _Now what would master Ulquiorra want me to do in this situation besides staying focused?_

"Hang on, I don't want to fight. You guys want back the thing we took? Here, take it." Ciara offered, throwing the contents of the sack onto the sand and letting them spill out.

When the two adjuchas directed their eyes to the bag's contents, Ciara used this opportunity to fire a cero at them. From the corner of her eye she saw the colour blue emerge from the pyramid. _Just in time._

She knew the cero would cause the adjuchas to split apart, one to the right, the other to the left. From the reiatsu she could sense, the right one was weaker, so she had a better chance of killing that one while Grimmjow could take care of the other. After she fired her cero, she followed to the right of it and attacked the adjuchas while it was dodging the cero.

The adjuchas tumbled into the sand, hissing from the pain. "You little bitch!"

Ciara went in for another kick, but the adjuchas dodged just in time causing her to released the blow directly at the ground. The adjuchas took this opportunity to claw against her leg, leaving a large gash across her thigh.

"Haha! Got ya!" it sneered.

Ciara sonido several yards back, but looked at the adjuchas with skeptical eyes. "You really think a scratch on my leg is going to take me down?" she half demanded. Did the adjuchas think she was that weak? It was an insult to say the least.

The adjuchas grinned, "Oh, but it's not just a scratch, can you feel it yet? The poison running through your veins?"

Ciara's eyes widened. _Shit_. She was going to have to finish this adjuchas and get healed quickly before it was too late.

X

After Grimmjow had finished killing the adjuchas he quickly flashed out of the pyramid to catch up with Ciara. When he reached outside there were a bunch of gillians and two adjuchas who were in the middle of dodging a cero. He saw Ciara go for the arrancar to her right. _I guess that leaves the other one to me._

This adjuchas seemed slightly stronger than the one he battled inside the chamber, but it still wouldn't be much of a challenge. He toyed with the adjuchas by landing a couple hits, but eventually got bored and took out pantera to slice the hollows across his mask.

"And here I was hoping you'd be more of a challenge," Grimmjow said to the dead adjuchas. "This mission turned out to be more boring than I thought." Once he finished off the adjuchas, he noticed the swarm of gillians head to the direction where Ciara was battling.

From what Grimmjow could see, Ciara was about a hundred meters away, but it looked like she had defeated the adjuchas, but then she slowly collapsed onto the sand as well. Several gillians reached for her body, lifting it into the air and charged a cero.

Grimmjow quickly sonido towards her and cut off the gillians hands, causing Ciara to fall midair. Before Grimmjow could catch Ciara's body though, someone intercepted the catch and snatched her body away. It looked like an Arracar or Vasto Lorde, but it wasn't part of Aizen's army, he could tell because it was wearing a black hakama, rather than an arrancar uniform. Something about their reiatsu was also off, it wasn't quite like the typical arrancar.

"Give me back that woman!" he hollered.

The hollow shook his head. "Never." he simply said, and then he disappeared.

Grimmjow's eye's grew wide, he needed that woman in order to get his promotion, if he lost her things weren't going to end well for him. "Bastard, get the fuck back here!"

He sprinted on all fours, but a couple of other meno's appeared, which distracted him and slowed him down. While he was busy cutting through the enemies in front of him, one of the Gillians changed a cero and attacked him from behind.

"Damn it," he grunted as he landed in the sand. That arrancar was getting away. From a distance, he could still see the hollow carrying Ciara, but they eventually disappeared from his sight.

"FUCK!" he yelled loudly into the open desert. He was injured, tired, and now he had to find the woman whom he has no idea where she is. What was he suppose to do now?

* * *

Ciara groaned as her body ached, but she could feel she was lying on something soft. Someone had just placed something on her face and she could feel a hand touching her forehead. She managed to open her eyes and spot a familiar face.

"Ashido?!" she gasped, trying to back away slightly only to have her movements restricted due to her injuries. How was this possible? How could a shinigami like him be alive out here. Was she dreaming, or had she joined him in hell?

He smiled at her reaction. "I'm glad you still recognized me, Ciara."

"How could I not? You were one of his best friends. But when you guys didn't make it back, we all thought you died. Are there others still alive?"

He shook his head sadly. "No, everyone is gone, I'm the only one left."

"How did you know it was me, and why did you bring me here?"

"I didn't recognize you at first because your reiatsu is completely different now, but I spotted you with a blue haired arrancar and a bunch of menos. I saw you unconscious and I knew I had to save you. The blue haired arracar wanted me to hand you over, but I managed to outrun him. "

"Shit, I'm actually on a mission with that blue haired arracar, Grimmjow."

"So you're one of them now." Ashido confirmed to himself more than asked.

Ciara nodded with sadness in her eyes. "But you must've noticed that when you saved me didn't you? Why didn't you just let me die, or better yet kill me yourself?"

He looked at her with serous eyes. "I would never be able to do that Ciara. Kaede loved you so much."

Ciara shook her head. "I don't think he loved me anymore after he found out what I really was. You seem more calm about it than he was."

"You're wrong Ciara. Whenever I was with Kaede, the only thing he would talk about was you. You meant everything to him and he was ready to spend the rest of his life with you. I swear he was ready to marry you, but he didn't want to scare you away in case you weren't ready for that kind of commitment."

"He did propose to me, but I rejected him because he didn't know yet. And then when he found out the truth, he couldn't look me in the face anymore. I knew that would happen if he found out, but part of me was hoping he could see past that and love me like he said he would. "

"He still loved you. He didn't tell me about your secret, but now that I know all I can say he must've been really shocked, and just needed to clear his head and remember the reason he loves you."

Ciara started to cry, thinking about him only made her heart ache. While she hugged her knees as she cried in her lap, Ashido gently patted her back.

After a couple minutes of non-stop tears, she managed to pull herself together. "I..I need to get back to Grimmjow," she sniffled.

"Don't force yourself Ciara, you're still in a really bad condition. I just got all the poison out, but you should rest for another day or two okay? "

Ciara nodded and laid back down.

"Get some more sleep, I'm going to go out and find some more herbs from a nearby forrest."

* * *

After taking care of the gillians, Grimmjow had found a nearby cave and decided to take a rest and attempt to come up with a plan. He wanted so badly to return to Hueco Mundo, but without the woman he couldn't go back. Without the woman, he couldn't go back or get his promotion. All because of that woman he is in this damn situation. If he wanted anything good to happen, he'd have to find her, assuming she is still alive. He could only hope that the hollow that took her hadn't killed her yet, otherwise he was as good as dead.

Grimmjow eventually decided to keep going in the north direction in search of Ciara, because he knew that arrancar was heading that way before he lost him. He travelled a short distance before he felt that familiar reiatsu and hid behind a tree to see that arrancar pop up from the ground and heading East.

 _So that's his hiding spot_. Grimmjow went underground and spotted a cave about twenty meters away. He could sense a familiar reiatsu coming from inside; It felt weak, but he knew it belonged to Ciara. He ran in there to find her sleeping, never had he felt so relieved to see the woman alive.

He quickly flung Ciara's body over his back, not caring if she woke up or not, and headed back to that nearby cave he was resting in earlier.

Ciara seemed okay at first, but after a couple hours she started to shiver, and her forehead was boiling hot. "Its so cold..." she muttered.

Grimmjow wanted to ditch Ciara and return to Hueco Mundo but he knew that would be a big mistake. They didn't have any blankets, the only thing he knew was that body heat is the quickest and most effective way to warm another person in this situation. Hesitantly, he stripped themselves out of their clothes leaving them in only their undergarments, using their clothes as blankets.

Grimmjow had slept with many women before, but for some reason he felt awkward pressing Ciara against his body. He almost felt guilty, though he was doing no wrong. However, he is a man and she is a woman. Their bodies were pressed against one another, so he couldn't help but have dirty thoughts run through his mind. She was helpless right now, he could do whatever he wanted and she wouldn't be able to stop him.

Taking a look at her sleeping face, he tilted her chin up and placed his face in the crook of her neck. Shit. What the fuck was he doing? He didn't even find the woman attractive and despised her because she's Aizen's little princess and yet he was about to try and fuck her. He needed to get a grip. He quickly pulled away and gave the unconscious woman a glare before turning her around so that her back was pressed against his chest.

During the night, her fever slowly died down. Grimmjow sighed in relief when he felt her forehead and it was no longer boiling hot, he would finally be able to get some sleep.

Early next morning, Ciara woke up. At first her eyes stayed closed, but then she smelt a unique aroma while breathing in and out. She wasn't exactly comfortable, parts of her body felt sore, but it was definitely warm and cozy. That's when she realized there was a hand around her waist and resting on her thigh. She quickly opened her eyes to find herself in the arms of Grimmjow. Her first reaction was to scream very loudly, waking Grimmjow in the process.

"What the fuck!" Grimmjow shouted. He barely got any sleep, so waking up to a screaming woman was not pleasant at all.

"That's my line! What fuckin' happened?!" Ciara screeched as she quickly tried to cover her body from Grimmjow's view with the bits of clothing.

"What happened? You got your ass kicked by a fuckin' adjuchas then I had to find you cause some arrancar kidnapped you. And after all that all I get is a few hours of sleep only to be waken up by a woman screaming in my face!"

Ciara felt a little guilty now, but she didn't want to admit it. He must've been really worried and thought that Ashido had killed her, when really he was just a old friend. However, she couldn't tell him that.

"Well that doesn't explain why we're sleeping with each other half naked!" She backfired, trying to put back the blame on him.

"You had a fuckin fever, and as you can see there ain't no blankets out here. If I didn't have to bring your sorry ass back in a good condition in order to get my promotion, I would've fuckin carried your dead body back with me to Hueco Mundo!"

She crossed her arms across her chest. "Well then I guess I should thank Aizen for making me a criteria for your promotion cause you obviously don't care for your comrades."

"My comrades? You're joking right? Its every arrancar for themselves. What are you, a fuckin' shinigami?" he joked. Ciara, on the other hand, looked at Grimmjow with serious eyes.

"Maybe I am," she answered coldly.

Grimmjow was taken aback by her response and was about to press on about the topic. However, he he wanted to hurry back to Hueco Mundo as soon as possible, so he decided to drop the subject and focus back on the whole purpose of this mission.

"Hurry up and get dressed. Since you seem fine now, lets get back to Hueco Mundo."

She didn't argue with him and did as he suggested.

After several hours and a couple run ins with some hollows they finally arrived back at the palace. "Grimmjow, Ciara, I see the two of you are finally back. I take it you have the item with you as well?"

Grimmjow took the brown sack bag off and threw it towards Aizen, the contents spilling out for him to see.

Aizen looked at the contents and nodded.

"Excellent, you have completed the mission with success Grimmjow. As promised you will now be the sixth espada. Report to the infirmary tomorrow where you will get your new tattoo. The two of you are now dismissed."

Once they walked out of the room, Grimmjow gave a loud cheer of excitement.

"Hear that princess? I'm the sexta espada now!"

Ciara rolled her eyes. "Yeah, all thanks to me," she muttered.

Unfortunately Grimmjow heard and a growling sound escaped his throat. He was about done with the woman's bitchy attitude, always thinking everything evolved around her. "Yer kidding right? If I hadn't killed that menos grande, you'd be fuckin' dead and Aizen would probably kill me."

"Wait, exactly how did one of the gillians almost kill me?"

"How the fuck would I know? It looked like you took care of the adjuchas but then you end up fainting onto the ground."

 _The Poison._ So he really did save her, but was it because he wanted to or because he had too? Either way, she was feeling slightly guilty for not thanking him. She stopped in her tracks, wanting to thank Grimmjow, but the words just got caught in her throat. Instead of showing him gratitude, she ended up asking him a question. "Since you got your promotion now, will you still train me every afternoon?"

Before turning around to give her an answer, Grimmjow stopped to think as well. It was a good question. The whole reason he agreed to train her was so he would get a promotion, but now that he got it was there anything in it for him? It's not like she would be able to get him another promotion anytime soon.

"Tch, what kind of dumb question is that? The deals over. I trained you for three damn months and now I finally got my promotion. Why the fuck would I continue to train you?"

Ciara sighed, she had a feeling he'd say something along those lines. She might have enjoyed training with him, but like he said, it was everyone for themselves. She might have appreciated his presence and company. but to him she was nothing but a stepping stone for a promotion. He was just like the rest of the arrancar, the only thing they want is more power.

She gave a small snort and faced away from him as she spoke. "You're right, what am I doing asking a silly question like that? Well then I guess I'll see you around."

As Ciara began to walk away, Grimmjow couldn't help but notice the change of tone in her voice. She almost sounded... hurt? No, that couldn't be it, what would she feel hurt about? "Yeah whatever, see you around, princess..."

 **End of Chapter 3.**

* * *

 **A/N:**

-Guest, rainydaywritings, Amelie'sHuman, Ella-chan, Jenna, thanks for the reviews and feedback so far! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as well!

-So everyone remembers who Ashido is right? I think he only showed up in the Anime, but he is a shinigami that got stuck in Hueco Mundo with his friends and is the only survivor. He basically lives in Hueco Mundo and wears this outfit made from an arrancar skulls.

-Awww, so Grimmjow told her no. When I first wrote the chapter he actually says yes because he has nothing else better to do, but then I changed it because I thought this way he stays more in character and because they technically haven't developed much of a relationship yet.

-Next update: uhhh...I honestly don't know. All I can say is I do put up status updates on my profile about once a month so you can check there sometimes.


	4. Chapter 4: Prove Your Worth

**After Ciara leaves with Ulquiorra for a year, she comes back stronger and more confident. When Grimmjow see's her again, his thoughts about her change and begins to see her as a woman, not the helpless girl she was when she first came to Hueco Mundo.**

 **Chapter 4: The Past; Prove Your Worth**

* * *

After Ciara helped Grimmjow get his promotion, he no longer trained her on a daily basis. He didn't want to admit it, but he kinda missed training Ciara. It actually gave him something to do, and he loved how much it bothered Ulquiorra every time Ciara thanked him. The fact that Ulquiorra's fraccion was thanking him and preferring him over her own espada really helped boost his ego. Nonetheless, that happened almost a year ago.

A month after Grimmjow became the sixth espada, Aizen sent Ciara and Ulquiorra on a mission to the human world and they haven't been back since. During this time, Grimmjow has been training both himself and his fraccion to become stronger. The first month after they left, he hardly cared, it was nice that the annoying woman was gone, but as half a year passed, he began to wonder if he was ever gonna see that woman again, not that it really mattered. Perhaps they both got killed on the mission, or Aizen changed his mind and decided she was the useless arrancar that she is.

One afternoon, while Grimmjow was bored in his room, there was a knock on his door. "What the fuck do you want?"

"Grimmjow-sama." Di Roy spoke. "Aizen-sama just came back to Hueco Mundo, and there will be a meeting starting promptly. All Espada are to attend. "

"Yeah yeah, I'll be there in five minutes." he replied, dismissing his fraccion.

Grimmjow lazily got out of bed and took his time heading over to the meeting/throne room. "Tch, I wonder what that bastard has to say today."

When he arrived all the espada were already present, other than the fourth espada that is.

"Greetings my Espada, I have called you all here so we can welcome our fellow Espada back home. Last year I sent them on a mission and they have finally returned home. Ulquiorra and Ciara, please come forward."

Ulquiorra and Ciara stepped out from the shadows, bowing down in front of Aizen.

"Thank you Aizen-sama for welcoming us back. It is an honour to be back home here in Hueco Mundo."

"From the reports I have received it seems like the mission went well, but I will discuss this in more detail with you privately after the meeting Ulquiorra."

"Yes Aizen-Sama."

"The Two of you may take a seat, as we have more things to discuss."

After Ulquiorra sat in his seat and Ciara stood behind, Aizen continued the meeting, discussing how he would expand the arrancar army even further.

* * *

As soon as Aizen said that Ciara was back, Grimmjow's attention went directly to her. From a quick glance he wouldn't have realized it was the woman, but taking a closer look you could definitely tell it was Ciara. She was still recognizable, but her hair had grown over the year and her body seemed more athletic compared to her chopstick arms and legs she use to have. Something else about her presence was different too, but he couldn't quite pin point it. The only thing he knew was exactly the same were her blood red eyes, the one thing that made her so recognizable.

Since Ulquiorra's seat was across from him at the meeting table, Grimmjow's eyes could only focus on the figure standing directly behind hm. During the meeting he paid no attention to the words that came out from Aizen's mouth, and never took his eyes off Ciara even once.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed that Ciara didn't make eye contact or even look in his direction during the meeting. She was just focused on her espada and Aizen the entire time. Then again, he should've known, how could he forget who she was? She's Aizen's little princess after all.

When the meeting finally ended, the woman said a few words to Aizen and Ulquiorra before exiting the room. Grimmjow was leaning against the wall outside the meeting room, waiting for the woman to walk out. When she did finally come out, she walked right past him without even a glance. Grimmjow growled at this, how could the woman not notice him there? He fuckin' trained her and shit and this was the respect he gets?

"Yo Woman!" he growled from behind.

She stopped walking as soon as she heard his voice and turned around. "Sorry, do I know you?" She asked, cocking her head sideways.

"Tch, you're kidding right? You'd better remember me especially since I saved your sorry ass twice."

"Nope, sorry, doesn't ring a bell." she said, turning her back to him and continued walking with a carefree attitude.

He fuckin' saved her ass from Nnoritra, trained her and saved her from being killed by gillians and she forgets who he is? She was only gone with Ulquiorra for a year, was she that much of a bitch that only remembers shit about herself.

"Fuckin' Bitch!" he exclaimed as he quickly sonido in front of her and pinned her into the wall. He pinned both her arms above her head with one hand while his other hand jerked her chin up and made her look him in the eye. There was a few seconds of silence as she stared into his eyes, but then she suddenly bursted out laughing.

Grimmjow growled "What's so fuckin' funny?"

She continued to laugh, and somehow he ended up letting go of her hands so she could cover her mouth to contain her laughter.

"That's it!" he yanked her up from the ground and pinned her shoulders against the wall. She had this huge grin on her face while Grimmjow was glaring at her. "Woman, tell me what's do damn funny?"

"You!" She answered easily.

"I ain't funny!" he fumed.

"I can't believe you actually got angry with me when I said I didn't remember you!"

"So you were fucking pretending!"

"Of course I was! But I didn't think you'd make a big deal out of it! So you do remember about your comrades."

"Tch, I never said I didn't remember people, I said we arrancar don't give a shit if another one of us dies."

"Well it obvious you would cause I can already tell that you missed me, that's why you got mad when you thought I forgot about you huh?"

Grimmjow stared at her wide eyed. Did she just assume that he missed her? What the fuck. "I didn't fuckin' miss you! I wanted to spar with you to see if you're the same useless bitch you were when you left!"

"Whatever you say, Grimmjow." She said in a sing song tone.

Grimmjow growled and raised his hand to punch her in the face. He wanted to let her know he was serious, but when she saw his fists coming, for some reason she didn't close her eyes in fear, instead the corner of her lip turned into a smile. If anything she was still the same disrespectful bitch.

Before his fists could collide with her face, a hand stopped him and pushed him backwards. "Ulquiorra!" he growled.

"My fraccion and I arrive back her in Hueco Mundo for less than an hour and you're already all worked up, you're still the same piece of trash as last year." Ulquiorra mused.

"Shut the fuck up Ulquiorra! This is between me and Ciara."

Ulquiorra took a step forward, but Ciara restrained him. "It's alright Ulquiorra, I can handle Grimmjow from here." He made eye contact with Ciara before looking in Grimmjow's direction then back at her before nodding and flashing away.

"What is it that you want from me, huh Grimmjow? From what I remember, you helped me train and then I helped you get a promotion, it's a done deal."

"You never repaid me for saving you from Nnoritra."

"Really Grimmjow?"

"Really woman. What? Is sparing with me that much of difficult task?"

"No, but why would you want to spar with me? I thought I was too weak and wouldn't be any fun."

"You're the one who said you'd get fuckin' stronger. But yer right, if you're still just as weak, then I'm gonna kick your ass within seconds."

"Fine then, starting tomorrow I'll spar with you."

"Tch, alright then, I'll see you tomorrow princess..." he said and flashed away.

* * *

When Ciara came back with Ulquiorra, she didn't expect Grimmjow's attention to be directed towards her. During the entire meeting she kept her eyes on Aizen and her espada, but every second she could feel Grimmjow's eyes on her. She didn't dare look in his direction. However, when she walked out of the meeting room, long and behold Grimmjow was waiting outside. She pretended to not notice him and walked right past, but he called out to her, angry that she was ignoring his presence.

She couldn't help but be amused by this, so she decided to play dumb. Why was he so uptight that she was ignoring him? Last time she checked he considered her to be the annoying one. That's when he finally lost it and tried to strike her, only to have Ulquiorra stop him. She wasn't scarred cause she knew he wouldn't hurt her too badly, but her face pulled into a smirk because from the corner of her eye she saw her espada exit the throne room.

For some reason he wanted to spar with Ciara. It didn't make sense to her though, he had always called her week, so what fun would it be for him to spar with an opponent as week as herself? Even if he thought she owned him for helping her, she thought he would've had a different request. Nonetheless, she agreed to spar with him so he would at least calm down and leave her alone until the next day.

Over the past year, Ciara and Ulquiorra had been on several missions and at the same time training. They went to other parts of Hueco Mundo, the human world, and even into soul society a few times. Since Ciara use to live in seireitei her and Ulquiorra, and with Aizen's help, were able to mask their reiatsu and gather important information while going unnoticed. She was happy to be back, and happy to see that Grimmjow still remembered her even though he said he didn't care about others. Part of the reason she agreed to spar with him is because she wanted to show him how much stronger she had gotten.

~The next day~

Perhaps today was finally the day Grimmjow would give Ciara some respect. She was tired of him calling her 'princess' because he thought she got everything handed to her from Aizen. If she could prove that she was stronger now through this sparring match then he would consider her a worthy opponent/ warrior.

When she arrived at the training room, she was surprised to see Grimmjow already waiting there for her, along with his fraccions.

"Why did you bring your fraccions?" she questioned.

"What you're not happy to see them? They were so excited to hear that you're back."

"Seriously, Grimmjow." Ciara rolled her eyes, she knew that was a total lie.

"I thought about what you said yesterday, about being no match for me and how it wouldn't be any fun. Then when I told my fraccion that I was gonna spar with you they offered to beat you up instead, so what do you say? I want to see you battle my fraccion, and maybe if you can beat them all I 'll want to waste some time with you."

"Five against one? That seems hardly fair."

"You would go one on one against my fraccion, starting with Di Roy. You would also be allowed to heal after every battle."

"One on one...hmmm...I dunno..."

"Come on! What? Are you afraid?" he taunted.

Ciara rolled her eyes. "No, Honestly what don't you just go and annoy someone else?"

"Tch, what? Maybe you're fun to annoy."

"Is that so, Grimmjow?" A voice suddenly said from behind. The two of them turned their heads to see Uqlui steeping into view.

"Ulquiorra-sama, what are you doing here?" Ciara asked slightly startled with her espada's presence. Grimmjow, on the other hand, growled in annoyance.

"I see that the piece of trash still enjoys bothering you." He said while facing Ciara, but then he turned to face the sexta. "My fraccion will not be looked down in such a way. She is not something to be used as your amusement, Grimmjow."

"Tch, Really? How about this, if Ciara can beat my fraccion, I will never annoy her again."

"She accepts."

Ciara looked at her espada wide-eyed. "Ulquiorra, are you sure about this...?" she asked, shocked that her espada would agree to Grimmjow's deal so easily.

Ulquiorra nodded and put a hand on her shoulder, "I've been training you over the past year, Ciara, I want you to show this piece of trash and his fraccions your new power." He knew what Ciara was capable of, she could take Grimmjow's fraccion on and win.

She nodded with pride. "I understand, I won't disappoint you, Ulquiorra-sama!"

"Are you two done you're chit chatting? Di Roy's already ready to kick your ass, so hurry the fuck up."

* * *

Taking on Di Roy was a breeze due to his arrogant personality. However, she couldn't let her guard down, she had gone in knowing he was the weakest of Grimmjow's fraccion. Edrad, Nakeem, and Yylfordt were more of a challenge. Erad was a skilled tactician, Nakeem was serious and calm, and Yylfordt was sarcastic, effeminate. Nonetheless, Uqlui had trained Ciara well, so she was prepared to deal with all types of opponents and thus successfully defeated the four of them.

Ciara drew a big smirk as she was finally face to face with her final opponent, Shawlong. Out of all Grimmjow's fraccion, she hated him the most. She still remembered when she first met him and how he almost tried to cut her head off. She'd been waiting to release her stored energy on him, all she needed was one more win.

"I have to say Ciara, I'm surprised that you were able to win all four of those battles."

"Why thank you Shawlong, I have to say I'm surprise I'm receiving a compliment from you."

"Unfortunately, your winning streak will stop here, I will not let you defeat me Ciara."

"Oh, and you think I'll let you beat me so Grimmjow can boss me around?"

"You still have no respect for Grimmjow-sama."

"No, I don't. Grimmjow doesn't respect me, so I will never respect him."

"You know you're just making it worse for yourself, the more we talk the more you fuel my temper. This win is not for me, but for my espada."

"Touche."

* * *

 _During Ciara's battle with Nakeem, Grimmjow watched in amazement when she landed another punch. She was gonna win this battle too, he could tell. The woman had gotten better, much better over the year. Her movements were quick and her body flexible. When she battled she no longer looked scarred, instead she looked determined and fierce. You could tell she was trying hard, a couple drops of sweat slid down her forehead as her eyes were focused on her opponent. Exactly what kind of training did she go through for her to improve this much? Grimmjow was really curious to know now._

 _"Grimmjow-sama," Shawlong interrupted his thoughts. "What are we gonna do about her?"_

 _Grimmjow raised a brow. "What do ya mean, huh Shawlong? Don't tell me you think you're actually going to lose to her."_

 _"Of course not, Grimmjow-sama, but her strength has clearly changed over the past year."_

 _"It has, hasn't it?" He said with a grin, it almost seemed like he was proud of her. "Watch closely as she kicks Nakeem. Do you see how she usually uses her left foot and the way she bends her right knee? That's her week spot. It's not totally obvious but if you attack her there she won't be able to move as fast or kick as hard."_

 _Shawlong looked at his espada with admiration. "How were you able to tell Grimmjow-sama?"_

 _The sexta's face drew into a grin, they had the advantage. "That was her weak spot when I trained her last year, and it still is."_

* * *

After countless numbers of kicks and punches, both of them had taken several blows off each other. They were both bleeding in one spot or another and their energy was running low.

Shawlong was definitely the most difficult of the five; she wouldn't say he was the strongest physically, but he was an analyst. He knew what to do to counteract her movements, he also had an advantage because he'd been watching her battle the other four fraccion.

Fuck, why wouldn't Shawlong hurry up and lose? If she could just inflict another powerful kick on him, he would be basically done.

She ran directly at him, but at the last second she somersaulted over him and landed behind him. Quickly hocking both her arms to his with her back to him, she flipped herself and him over in the process, and let go so he hit the ground. This was her chance. She flashed up to him and got ready to send a powerhouse kick, but something hit her knee, causing her angel to change and miss. When she missed she created a big crater on the ground, but Shawlong took this advantage and grabbed a hold of her leg and swung her against the wall.

 _Shit, but how did he know?_ He had just hit her in her weak point, but she'd been trained on how to cover it up. He shouldn't have been able to notice it within these couple of battles. She should have focused on the battle but she couldn't stop herself from turning her head to find the sexta espada. _Grimmjow_. As soon as she made eye contact with him, the corner of his lips curved up into a smirk. _That bastard._ She should've known.

Shawlong had taken full advantage of Ciara's undivided attention, even if it was for just a second. As soon as he made his move, he knew she had reached her limit. So when Ciara felt him smash her against the wall and deliver the final blow, all she could think of was how she had disappointed her espada.

Grimmjow's howl of victory filled the room. "Hah! You see that Ulquiorra? Shawlong defeated Ciara!"

Ulquiorra didn't say a word, instead he just gave one look at Ciara, who lay bloody and broken on the ground, and began walking out of the training room.

"Ulquiorra," Ciara croaked. "Ulquiorra-sama I'm sorry, please wait!" she cried out, trying her best to chase after him. She collapsed down at his feet.

"Ciara, I thought you could prove your worth today, but instead you have disappointed me. You are nothing but trash." His last worlds hit her hard. She was left staring at his feet as he walked away.

Ciara was already in the pain from her battle with Shawlong, but she could stand the physical pain, but Ulquiorra's words mentally tore her apart.

Grimmjow and Shawlong had watched the scene unfold in front of them. At first he was smiling because for once Uqlui seemed defeated. But then when he called Ciara trash that seemed a little harsh. Grimmjow didn't expect Ulquiorra to be so bitter to the woman.

"Woman!" he called out several times. She just sat there looking and feeling broken. Finally he marched up and squatted down in front of her so he was eye level and lifted her chin up to look him in the eye. She stared into his pupils for a few moments before breaking out of her daze.

"Don't touch me!" she hissed, slapping his hand away from her. "This is all your fault! Why did you have to challenge me? Now I'm nothing but a piece of trash!" She yelled at him as tears started to fall from her eyes. Her body was in pain, but she tried her best to stand up and walk out of the room.

"Where the fuck are you going?" He asked in disbelief.

"To find Ulquiorra and apologize for being trash."

"Tch, are you stupid? You'd better get yourself healed first. In your state you're gonna collapse around the corner."

"I don't care! I need to find Ulquiorra, he trained and helped me so much over the year, and I finally got the chance to prove him my worth from all the investment of his time and I only end up bringing him shame. I don't want him to let me go as a fraccion...Just leave me alone Grimmjow, it's not like you'd ever understand. "

Grimmjow grabbed her arm and chin and made her look him in the eye. "Shut up would you! You are the most intriguing woman I've ever met. Who cares what he thinks. If that bastard thinks you're trash, I'll gladly take you in as my own!"

Ciara looked at Grimmjow with wide eyes, slightly shocked by his words. Did he actually mean it? No, there was no way he would want her. To him she was just a useless bitch. it was all a joke to him. Breaking out of his grasp she coldly responded "I don't need your pity Grimmjow."

Without another word she left the room to look for Ulquiorra, leaving Grimmjow in the training room along with his fraccions.

Grimmjow was furious. Did the woman really think that he said that because he pitied her? He's a fuckin' espada, he didn't pity anyone. Why did she care so much about Ulquiorra? How stupid could that woman be, she should know by now Ulquiorra calls everyone trash.

"Grimmjow-sama, are you alright?" one of his fraccions spoke. He didn't know who fuckin' spoke, but all he knew is he needed to take his anger out on them and the nearest wall.

 **End of Chapter 4.**

* * *

 **A/N:**

Aww, so Grimmjow kinda cheated. If Ciara battled Shawlong first then she would've beaten all of them.

beautiful-note2895: Thank you for finding my story! Haha yeah, it seems like two different stories right? I'm glad you see it that way, because that was my goal! I'm trying to write it so there is a different setting but similar situations/reactions, so in both their lives they fall for each other again.

Jenna: Thank you for your patience. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.


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